News

Wave of third-party support for Sony's NGP

Several big publishers line up for the newest PlayStation handheld

Wave of third-party support for Sony's NGP
|

It's an oft-muttered cliche: it's not about the hardware, it's about the games.

Sony is taking that to heart in announcing robust third-party publisher support for NGP, the codenamed successor to PlayStation Portable.

Capcom, Activision, Electronic Arts, SEGA, Konami, Epic Games, and Tecmo Koei have all expressed a desire to develop games for the new portable, which launches later this year. All supported PSP to varying degrees.

As PlayStation.Blog reports, game announcements were lacking, yet plenty of impressive tech demos were on display at Sony's press event in Tokyo. Capcom showcased footage of PlayStation 3 action title Lost Planet 2, for instance, running in real-time.

Famed developer Hideo Kojima beamed a Metal Gear Solid 4 cutscene through the device. Kojima likened the handheld's power close to that of a PlayStation 3 console.

Activision made news by announcing intentions to develop a new Call of Duty game exclusive to NGP. Early footage of the game was shown at the event.

The question remains, however, is precisely how much support will be given to the new handheld and whether Sony will make a concerted effort to court small developers that have run into the open arms of Apple.

Several big publishers like EA aggressively supported PSP, but pulled back after slow hardware and software sales in Europe and the US took the shine off the market.

Tracy Erickson
Tracy Erickson
Manning our editorial outpost in America, Tracy comes with years of expertise at mashing a keyboard. When he's not out painting the town red, he jets across the home of the brave, covering press events under the Pocket Gamer banner.